CSA Astronaut Julie Payette 8" x 10" Full Colour Portrait

NASA Experience: Ms. Payette reported to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in August 1996. She completed initial astronaut training in April 1998 and was assigned to work on technical issues in robotics for the Astronaut Office. In 1999 she flew on STS-96 and has logged over 465 hours in space. A veteran of two space flights, STS-96 (1999) and STS-127 (2009), she has logged over 611 hours in space.

From September 1999 to December 2002, Ms. Payette was assigned to represent the Astronaut corps at the European and Russian space agencies where she supervised procedure development, equipment verification and space hardware processing for the International Space Station Program.

Since January 2003, Ms. Payette works as a CAPCOM (Capsule Communicator) at Mission Control Center in Houston and was Lead CAPCOM for Space Shuttle missionSTS-121 (2006). The CAPCOM is responsible for all communications between ground controllers and the astronauts in flight.

Space Flight Experience: Julie Payette flew on Space Shuttle Discovery from May 27 to June 6, 1999 as a crewmember of STS-96. During the mission, the crew performed the first manual docking of the Shuttle to the International Space Station, and delivered four tons of supplies to the Station. Ms. Payette served as a mission specialist, was responsible for the Station systems, supervised the space walk and operated the Canadarm robotic arm. The STS-96 mission was accomplished in 153 orbits of the Earth, traveling more than six million kilometres in 9 days, 19 hours and 13 minutes. Ms. Payette was the first Canadian to participate in an ISS assembly mission and to board the Space Station.

From July 15 to 31, 2009, Julie Payette served as the flight engineer on the crew ofSTS-127 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on the 29th Shuttle mission to the International Space Station. During this mission, also known as ISS Assembly Mission 2J/A, the crew completed the construction of the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module, installed scientific experiments on its Exposed Facility and delivered critical spare parts and replacement batteries to the orbital complex. Robotics technology was used almost every day on this assembly mission and Ms. Payette operated all three robotic arms – the Shuttle's Canadarm, the Station's Canadarm2, and a special-purpose Japanese arm on Kibo. While the Shuttle was docked to the ISS, the mission featured a record 13 astronauts from 5 different nationalities together on board a single joint spacecraft. It also highlighted the first time two Canadians were in space at the same time. The 16-day mission included five spacewalks, travelling 10.5 million kilometers in 248 orbits around the Earth.

In Januyary 2011, Julie Payette undertook a fellowship as a Public Policy Scholar at the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington, D.C. In October 2011, Ms. Payette accepted an appointment as scientific authority for Quebec in Washington on behalf of Quebec’s Department of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade. During her assignment, Ms. Payette will remain a member of the Canadian Astronaut corps.